Prayers for all the lives lost in the attack in Lahore yesterday. Prayers for all the innocent gone. Prayers for all the families broken. Prayers for the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers who are no more. Prayers for those who are undergoing treatment to try and recover. Prayers for those who are trying to recover from the trauma. Yet again prayers. Yet again we are the same juncture. There will be widespread criticism of security arrangements or the police or the intelligence or the politicians. There will be criticism that (and rightly so) the politicians will just be doing what they always do. They will come on media and ‘strongly’ condemn the barbaric actions of those behind this attack. There will be criticism of western media not giving equal weightage to the tragedy of an attack in a non-western state or country as given to the attacks in Belgium or France. There will be lots of noise on social media. There will be some sanity. There will be some chaos. It will all be there. And then once the cacophony has dimmed over the course of the next couple of weeks – we will move on. The world will move on. As it always does. As it always has. We lost 144 bright futures in children in Peshawer in December 2014. There was hue and cry. There was a black day. There were black profile pictures and black cover photos. Then after a couple of weeks, a year passed by and people marked the anniversary of the attacks. The same happened in Paris – there was a wave of people who changed their profile picture to mark their solidarity with them by having a watermarked French flag. Then life moved on. Belgium happened. Life is moving on. In between Yemen happened, Istanbul happened – life continues moving on.

We blame ISIS, we blame RAW, we blame the US. Life still moves on. But tell me how does any of this actually bring about any change? How does it comfort the lives of the ones left behind of the victims? How does it help the world in the future? What real action or objective is being achieved in the eradication of all these evils? It will only be better when we stand up to the evils of all these extremists. All these people who in the name of religion carry out murders, terror and destruction. They are not representative of anything or any religion or any race. They are all an evil against humanity and humanity must prevail against them by recognizing this fact. By moving beyond religion and race and standing up to them and saying this isn’t about any of that. This is about humanity. This about an attack on humanity – regardless of where, regardless of on who.

The change will come when we come forward and stand up to the mindset that was there in Islamabad yesterday. If we don’t stand up to that and stop it now – there will be more Lahores, Peshawers etc. If we don’t stand up to and stop extremism world over, there will be more Belgiums and Paris’s.

There cannot be any place in this world for extremism. We as humanity must stand up to it.

Humans have a tendency to pass judgement almost instantly on people, situations, events or circumstances without taking all factors into consideration. A person’s action at a point in time are judged without looking deeper into what led to the action or the circumstances behind the same. An event without understanding the external and internal factors revolving around it – this is of course barring all natural or very obvious events. A statement. A mindset. An act. Behavior. Different things but all resulting in a natural tendency for a person to pass judgement. Or an opinion. Without taking into consideration all things or all factors.

This is a tendency that at least I have come to realize lies within most people. Maybe not applicable to one person for all situations but that one person would have judged something or someone at some point without getting into the details. Labelled them also perhaps. And then the label itself serves to be the point of judgement for others. An example, mundane example, a restaurant experience for someone might have been bad resulting in a critical review being posted online. The review going viral and the restaurant in question gaining the label of a place having questionable service or product. While in actuality the case might have been a one off or a bad day. Or a new place going through teething issues.

But that was a mundane example. And one which might not hit home with people a lot. Let’s take another example. A person’s behavior. People might be having a bad run of days. Or they might be going through a difficult patch in life. Or maybe they are just born that way. I am not saying that a person’s negative behavior is immediately required for us to think of a reason for them to be that way. Perhaps for some people that is not the case. That’s their personality as it has been molded since birth by the environment around them and their upbringing. For some it might have been some experiences which have changed them. For some it might not actually be who they are but a consequence of what they are perhaps going through at a certain point or period in life.

Everyone has their own set of problems or challenges that they are facing in life. Some deal with them with remarkable ease, strength and poise. Some fare on an average level and manage to survive out the other end. Others find it difficult perhaps. And this also can vary form point to point or situation to situation. Not necessarily written in stone as a trend for someone to be the same always. Some people buckle after having to go through something of the other again and again. Some buckle after facing something of absolute enormity for the first time in life after having a pretty protected and otherwise near perfect life. Some have a system to get through things. Some don’t. We are all humans after all and every person is different to every other person and hence has differing attributes and differing perspectives towards each experience. Things which on paper may be same are not necessarily be the same in actuality for people. Every experience, every relationship, every feeling is different just as every person and every human is different to others. There are commonalities here and there. But never entirely the same.

One person has not gone through experiences that you have not and similarly you have gone through experiences they have not. We shouldn’t judge people. We should always try to examine the entire information set that we possibly can and even then discount for the fact that we still don’t know everything. Live and let live. Don’t judge. Always keep an open heart and mind. Stay calm and approach things with calm. Stress kills (something I also really need to learn). Giving stress also is just as bad. One must always learn to stay positive. Especially towards people. It will help a long way in life.

As is a usual trend in my blog posts – I am not sure if this will make much sense to people. I hope it does.

Pakistan’s cricket team has been on a rotten run in the limited overs format. Yes the PSL was a good reprieve in between and certainly did warm the heart to see something Pakistan with the potential of becoming big in the years to come however fact is fact. In the ODI and T20 format our team has simply been awful. The results are there for all to see. And with the World T20 main round just around the corner and on the back of an extremely disastrous Asia Cup, a major overhaul is the only thing that seems to be the cure.

From the batting to the captaincy to the management and coaching and maybe a tweak or two in bowling – a major overhaul is required. There are no two ways about it. Our batsmen made a hash of things in the Asia Cup and even before that against the Kiwis. They have repeatedly shown that this batting lineup lacks any solidity, character or consistency. The biggest culprits have been the openers and the middle order. Pakistan’s opening problem is quite old. Not since the days of Saeed Anwar have we found a single, consistent and world class opening batsman. And not since his partnership with Aamir Sohail have we found a consistent pair at the top of the order. There have been numerous openers and numerous pairing options with not a single consistent and world class pair or player emerging. The middle order has taken hits since the decline of Younis Khan in the shorter format of the game and afterwards the retirement of Misbah. Prior to that the departures of Inzimam and Yousuf did the same but we had Misbah and Younis. Now we don’t. Azhar is not a Misbah. There is no Inzi in sight to bank on for even 7 out 10 times. Simply put – batting has been our biggest area of churning out losses and bad performances. Even with a strong and completely fit line up our bowling has not been able to do anything about inept and schoolboy batting displays. The most recent example being the Asia Cup match against India in which we were shot out for 83. Our bowlers tried but just didn’t have a realistic enough target to defend. Senior players like Umar Akmal and Hafeez have to take more responsibility. They have to be more consistent and deliver. Sarfaraz also has to ensure that he continues to be a responsible player with the bat more often than not. He has done that somewhat in the past and will have to up it in the tournament.

Captaincy is another issue. While Afridi has served Pakistan for a long time and has definitely provided in the past, it just keeps looking like he is running out of steam. Batting has never really been something that I have ever put Afridi on onus for but even his bowling is in decline. And with leadership comes responsibility. You need to inspire somehow on the field through bowling, batting or fielding the rest of the team. To galvanize them. To get them out of the slumber. However that really has been missing. Nor has there been a sacrificing rescue act to stabilize the ship. Something that was often the feature of Misbah’s captaincy and for which he was often given the stick by people left, right and center. I would again ask them – what else could he have done. And had he not done that the shambles that are the batting right now would have been the shambles then as well. Afridi’s captaincy of late has been neither inspiring nor the self-sacrificing for stability nor the leading from the front sort. His captaincy has neither been Misbah nor has it been anywhere near the heights he reached as captain in the 2011 world cup. We badly need that inspiration or leading from the front. And we need it now to have any sort of respectability at the World T20.

Including a batting coach now may very well be having left it too late. And not just any batting coach but an established, respected and accomplished figure. But it may just bring a little bit of semblance in the approach that our batsmen use. Khurram Manzoor was always going to be a disaster and recalling Ahmed Shehzad to the squad was all but inevitable. Even if it doesn’t really guarantee immediate success or consistency, it will at least add some experience. How far is that experience used by Ahmed Shehzad with the bat rather than social media is left to be seen.

The bowling department, yet again seems to be our only ray of hope. With the return of Amir to the team the attack has gotten a spearhead for attack even thou I was opposed to him returning on principle. I still maintain it but this is more of a practical assessment of the team more than anything else. And technically his inclusion is after due process of being banned and having served his time. Coming back to the assessment, with Amir the spearhead and having Irfan and Wahab Riaz in support our bowling will have the required bite. I would definitely keep Wahab Riaz ahead of Sami because he can give that required intensity more than Sami and can contribute a little with the bat as well. Irfan will remain an asset with his height. Spin is something that we are hurting in no longer having someone like Saeed Ajmal in the side nor Yasir Shah for that matter. Afridi as mentioned earlier is no longer the bowler he used to be. Hafeez cannot bowl due to his action being termed as illegal. Shoaib Malik can be useful, but that’s about it, he can just be useful.

Keeping all of the above in mind and given that our group has India, New Zealand, Australia and one qualifier from the initial rounds (most likely Bangladesh) it will be nothing short of a miracle if we qualify from the group. Australia are perhaps the only team we can be more confident of beating given their T20 side is not that good. India has a curse on us in tournaments and will most likely be victors against us especially in front of their home crowd. The Kiwis are a strong unit. Bangladesh (if they qualify) are going to use their recent victory against us in the Asia Cup as an inspiration to repeat that victory and can achieve that.

So as usual prayers for team Pakistan but doesn’t seem like it is going to be a very good cup for us. Sad to see Afridi sign off from international cricket in what looks more and more likely to be the above scenario. He has been a great asset for the team in the past and has had an interesting, part glorious part chaotic career in the green shirt and one would have hoped for him to depart on a high.

There are two different Cinema revivals in Pakistan. One is the pure movie theatre culture and big screen experiences that were originally associated with names such as Regal Cinema and Nishaat and Bambino if you go further back. Then a few years ago places like Atrium, Cinepax, Cineplex, Nueplex etc started opening up across the major urban centers of the country. Cinepax is now even expanding to Murree.

The cinema going culture has been revived for a few years now and so much so that in Karachi for the otherwise starved for entertainment public this is the primary outing these days. Movies would be sold out over the weekends and even weekdays would see throngs of people lining up to the big screen madness.

The other cinema revival is that of the Pakistani movies. This has started happening in the last couple of years thanks to ARY, HUM and other major media houses investing in bringing out films. There have been hits and many misses along the way but it is heartening to see that our movies are also being sold out at the cinemas even with bollywood releases simultaneously being shown. Definitely a good sight.

There has been criticism however of an inclination for movie makers of trying a wee bit too hard to be in line with Bollywood standards or outlandish plots and scripts matching C grade hollywood material. That criticism is valid but perhaps a little harsh at this time. The revival has just started. The primary stars and talent is coming from the world of tv dramas (which we have always minus a couple of years in between been high quality in – both in terms of acting and stories). Yes there is an attempt to compete and imitate bollywood and hollywood styles but that’s ok. At least it is pulling the public in and eventually we will see more consistent quality work coming out soon.

There have been a few good ones too so its not all despair in terms of quality. Waar was a brilliant movie strictly speaking from our standards. Yes there were loose ends and technical quality and directorial issues but we will get over them. Na Maloom Afraad was another great movie and to be honest I would actually disagree with the critics against it. I think it was a well balanced and well made movie with plenty of laughter and solid performances. The storyline was well worked and consistent throughout the movie. Javed Shaikh displayed the quality of his immense talent and one has to say he is perhaps the most legitimate quality veteran actor we have who can be slotted right up there with the very best.

This year has also seen a host of new movies coming out including hits like Karachi se Lahore and more recently Jawani Phir Nahi Ani which has been doing well at the box office. I would say Karachi se Lahore was a more superior film to Jawani Phir Nahi Ani as the latter tends to go a bit overboard on occasions and I am sorry but Humayun Saeed – as a good an actor as he has been simply does not fit.

The best this season and perhaps over the years has to be Manto thou. Sarmad Khoosat has brilliantly displayed his skills both as an actor and director with this one. Fantastic acting, great post editing and wonderfully well worked music give the entire movie a A Grade quality of work. The acting by everyone in the movie was great and some scenes were powerful beyond words. A couple of the scenes which stand out the most – the story part of Manto’s ‘Thanda Gosht’ and the scene where Manto just about makes it home in the middle of a curfew with alcohol instead of medicine for his ailing daughter.

All in all extremely good to see our movies coming out more frequently and improving step by step in terms of technical execution of acting as well as production and direction. Stories will also improve with time. Give it a couple of more years and I am sure we will start seeing more of Na Maloom Afraad and Manto type of work. Maybe even B or A grade type Hollywood action stuff.

In the meantime lets all continue the support for our industry and see the movies.

Every once in a while Bollywood tends to churn out a movie which has the following ingredients:

It is relatable for the uber urbanite and filled with first world realities

It is very light on the mood (with maybe a couple of heavy and deep moments)

It is very much inspires you to maybe to one or two things in your life

It doesn’t have any of the usual bollywood ingredients about it like the super cop type fighting or the unnecessary ridiculous comedy

Dil Dhadakne Do is all of the above. Directed and written by Zoya Akhtar (Luck by chance and Zindagi Na Mile Gi Dobara) the movie follows the story of a an industrialist family, the Mehras, as they embark on a 10 day cruise journey along the Bosphorus in a celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary. The Mehras include one flirtatious and under stress businessman Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor), his meekly loyal wife Neelam (Shefali Shah), an ambitious yet unhappy in marriage daughter Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) and the not so business ambitious and a little more carefree and thoroughly spoiled and professionally aimless Kabir (Ranveer Singh). Joining them on this cruise celebration are some of the other uber rich friends and family. And of course new and old love interests of the Mehra siblings – Farah the Carabet Dancer on the cruise (Anuskha Sharma) and Sunny Gil as Ayesha’s ex lover and Kamal’s manager’s son (Farhan Akhtar). The family is shown to be thoroughly dysfunctional with a lot of under the rug and don’t talk about certain things sort of moments along with that ‘modern age’ old argument of how things have always been a certain way and how they now should be. A rift in thought between the old and the young generations in the is shown from varying angles in the movie. The conflicts in the film are authentic and they’re rendered with genuine emotion. Rich people have problems too, and Dil Dhadakne Do proves that if written and directed well, it is possible for a First World film to connect with Third World audiences. And a special mention of course for the Mehra’s dog, Pluto who is our narrative host throughout the movie and definitely looks the most sane personality on board.

The film also looks terrific, thanks to Akhtar’s grasp on aesthetics, Carlos Catalan’s camerawork, and of course the gorgeous Turkish locales. Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s songs are fun too, the highlight of which is an incredibly-shot single take number that culminates into the whole gang converging at the bar. Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, who plays his crush, get to dance to a number reminiscent of the practice regimen from Silver Linings Playbook.

Anchoring the film is Anil Kapoor in the performance of his career – he’s incredibly funny whether he’s irritable or just plain nasty. The look of incredulity on his face when things fall apart around him is priceless. Shefali Shah almost matches Kapoor in both hilarity and drama, while Singh is his usual goofy self and Chopra is terrific in an emotional scene. Rahul Bose plays Chopra’s husband and he makes a decent impression as does Sharma in her extended cameo of a role. A mild downer in the film is Farhan Akhtar because he once again plays Farhan Akhtar. There’s no change in his mannerisms and the brief appearance of a beard isn’t much by way of a useful addition.

All in all a really good watch and not to be missed for the movie, the comedy, the acting and yes even the songs! Best number we would say is ‘Galla Goodiyan’.

Travelling can be a lot of things- inspiring, rejuvenating, relaxing, an escape, an experience, an adventure etc. It can be a lot of good things. But of course it comes with its own set of baggage and hassles. Crowded airport terminals, long flights, noisy flight neighbours, changes in temperature on flight and in terminal, dealing with natives from a country who seemingly don’t communicate in English or choose not to etc. So as with everything else travel has its pros and cons. What you can do to ensure that the tilt is heavily on the positives as your take away from your holiday or vacation is plan ahead for these hassles and problems and try to minimize them as much as possible. Obviously you can’t eliminate them entirely but mitigation can do wonders. Here is a list of things which can help in various phases of travel or well at least makes my list anyway.

Travel Wallet / Card Holders

A travel wallet can be one of the most essential, time saving and hassle free items on your list. Avoid digging through your bag to search for the frequent flyer card, passport, boarding ticket and any other xyz item. Pick up a special cardholder to hold all the essential cards or documents you will need at the airport (frequent flier card, credit card, ID). Yes you might come off as a little bit of an organization nut or a control freak but you’ll be a lot less likely to misplace an important card in the rush to make your flight.

Smartphones

Not because they are funky. Not because everyone else has them. Not because they are the status quo. Not for anything else but the pure fact that smart phones have evolved into being an essential part of our overly technologically oriented lives. Love them or hate them you will feel more and more that they are way too useful to simply ignore. Especially if you belong to the working members of the society. And just as one would expect these little devils can be life savers for travelling. Music gaming or reading to kill the time on a long flight or a long transit at an airport. Alarms and reminders to store all important events, flight/tour/show times etc. Many apps that can help you on your travel journey with essential things – covered separately ahead.

Translation Apps

You can research and download whichever translation app you prefer but this is a miracle worker and a life saver. That’s right it is both those. Imagine going to a place like Beijing, China. If you didn’t have an idea of exactly how bad the communication barrier is like I did’t then trust me you would want to avoid the culture shock. People simply do not speak any English. It is very difficult and rare to find someone who would speak in somewhat English let alone fluently. In such a conundrum translation apps are essential. In the old days you could probably see from TV shows and movies etc people carrying around a language to language dictionary in their hands and frantically searching for the required word or phrase. Well this is essentially that only without the searching and franticness. All you have to do is type or speak into the app and viola translation will be done. Google Translate is in my humble opinion the best one out there. Covers a vast array of languages and has an easy to use interface. The translation can be played via audio as well making the entire experience more convenient.

Map Apps

I believe in exploring cities on foot. Whenever and wherever possible I would love to just walk around, take the local tube or taxi and just feel the city on my own. Embrace all that it has to offer from market places to malls to restaurants to activity places. I remember doing that through the various places and markets in London and also in Singapore. Really good experience. What you need to make this all the more better is a map. Download a map app for your phone which is updated and clearly has all the main places marked on it. Your location is clearly visible on it and will make it easier for you to chalk out directions on where you want to go. Again Google would top this list for maps as well. Some places have city specific map apps which also come with transport updates and guides on how to get to where (listing what transport you can take with timings and updates on whether a road might be closed and diversions etc).

Four Square

This app would be really helpful in cities or countries where people are high on technology and the social media. You want to go exploring on your own but don’t know which places are good and what to have at a particular restaurant? Well four square is the collective answer to that. It is a social media platform which guides you to the places around you giving complete ratings along with user reviews. The reviews can be really helpful. They cover almost everything that can be seen on the map from dining places to cinemas to book stores to malls to stations etc. Reviews and helpful tips can be found posted by other users which can definitely be helpful at any time. And you can return the favour by leaving reviews and tips of your own for other lost souls such as yourself.

Ear Plugs

No – they aren’t just for the ear pain you feel when landing and taking off in the aircraft. And they aren’t just for swimming or your beach visits because you can’t stand water in your ears. They are also amazing to get you through those troubled times when there may be a case of cranky toddlers, infants and small children who are wailing or crying or basically going hyper. Help yourself stay sane with these, just plug them in and block out the unnecessary noise.

DSLR

You might not be into photography. You might have a smart phone with a real nice camera in it. But believe me especially given the ease of use and competitive prices you simply must not travel without a DSLR. Photography is one of the best ways of grabbing the memories and experiences you have on travel outside of your own mind. Over clicking can be a problem but that is something you can control. But having a DSLR means you can capture that perfect sunset on the beach in Langkawi or the big 5 on safari at the Kruger National Park in Johannesburg with brilliance. The picture quality will be fantastic and you can use them to make copies and frame them later on as well to cap off your memorable times from your trips. All you need really is a basic lens or two and you are all set. The DSLR will help you do the rest. A picture is worth a thousand words after all.

Multi-Plug Adapter

Ever reached your destination only to find out that the hotel you are staying at doesn’t have a matching adapter or electrical socket for your phone charger, laptop, shaver or pretty much any other device that you carry with you for your travels? The answer to that long question is probably yes. It happened with me in Sri Lanka. Beautiful hotel in Negombo the day I landed. Turned out the entire country was on a 3 pin socket system and my phone charger, laptop charger and camera charger all had different plugs. Would have been less hassle free if I had known in advance and had just packed a multi-plug adapter from home!

This nation can be a very frustrating one at times. More so over the last couple of years. Maybe because that thread of hope for them is wearing thin. With each year, with each spectacular failure or blow, with each new low – and not just the government and political family. Not just the establishment and the boys. But overall, of us as a nation.

Take the incidents of the attacks on the bus in Safura Goth. The perpetrators carried out the attack without any remorse. Without any shred of humanity being visible in them. Almost as if one was going to slaughter chickens in a simulation! That bad. And lo and behold some kid from IBA pops up as involved. The murders of Masood Hamid (Dawn Marketing Director) and Sabeen Mahmood (Activist – T2F Café). The general manner in which we continue after the mandatory condemnations and drawing room talk. I don’t see anyone actually making or doing anything to make a difference. Save the few souls who are actually working for some betterment. We will come to him later.

Take the Axact situation. Take the Ayan Ali situation. Take Moin Khan during the world cup. Take our nation’s reaction to that. Take the common man who cheats his customers during Ramadan. My friends actually encountered this – samosas empty of any filling. And that’s just one example. Take the numerous AC walas who overcharge or do the kind of work which requires repeat services as the ‘AC’ is just not staying fixed.

Take every single person who drives in Karachi and thinks that every road, every market area is named after him or his father. Or that somehow the property rights belong to them. Parking will be done in the middle of the road blocking the cars. Traffic signals will be broken without any regard for the safety of others and one’s own self. Take all the hit and run cases. Take all the bikers. Take all the spoilt rich kids driving. The 4x4s. Take every feudal. Every security rich entourage travelling through the city and blocking everyone’s path. Take every one who just drives on the wrong side of the road. Take every traffic cop who looks the other way when a red or green note appears. Take every cop who flags down cars for no reason hoping for the red and green notes. Take every person who takes out those red and green notes.

Take every ‘professional’ from the corporate world or in a government job who is looking to make themselves just a tad more richer on the company’s expense through kick backs. Take every corrupt official sitting in the national institutions waiting for the general public to come and fill their small coffers with ‘small’ amounts. Take the general public for filling them.

Take the absolute lack of civic sense not only on the roads but off them as well. The concept of time is lost on us. We give one time and expect the other person to automatically know this could mean plus 1-2 hours. Or simpler yet, just don’t show up. And don’t inform either. Why bother? It should be a given. Because that’s the God given right. Taking every other person’s time for granted.

The problem with us as a nation is that our DNA is already lost. It is broken and unhealthy. The DNA has over time corrupted itself into accepting certain norms which should not be accepted. It has corrupted itself into adopting certain behaviors and attitudes which should not be adopted. It is in the DNA. Our DNA should be rejecting these so called ‘Political Leaders’. They are serving us. Or should be serving us. Not the other way around. Not us servicing their bank balances.

The situation at hospitals in Karachi after the recent heat wave. The complete disdain of the provincial government and the Chief Minister. The utter shame in the manner in which corpses were piled up due to lack of facilities. The fact that it took one Jibran Nasir to say it out loud and follow it up with some action at the JPMC Hospital. I have found Jibran Nasir in the last year or so especially to stand up and speak for what is right. To not shy away. To do what the nation as a whole should be doing. Speaking out. Raising their voices and playing their part. He got JPMC 18 air conditioner units to battle the heat wave and to bring comfort to the patients admitted in the hospital for varying ailments. He is perhaps one of the few that I mentioned earlier.

But how has the nation been affected by all of this as a whole? By all of the above. By the systematic decline of things, the systematic rot setting in. Not really. We grieve, complain, condemn, raise volumes (not voices really), contribute perhaps for a couple of days. The problem stays, there is no constructive resolution. It just goes in the background and life goes on. Continues to go on. And we keep going to our drawing rooms and intellectually say that the Chief and the boys are truly the ones running this place. The civilian leadership is corrupt. That they are incapable. And that we hope that General Raheel is the savior we have all been dreaming and waiting for. There is no concerted effort to look at the general public DNA and how to fix that. How to fix our approach. To fix our own inconsistent standards of ethics, civic sense and morality. Jesse qoum wesse hukumran.